If an Employer or a Respondent fails to carry out a decision of an Adjudication Officer, or a decision of the Labour Court relating to an appeal against a decision of an Adjudication Officer, the Employee or Complainant affected, or his/her trade union, or an excepted body as defined under the Trade Union Act 1941 may apply directly to the District Court for an order directing the Employer or Respondent to comply with that decision.
In the case of an Adjudication Officer’s decision, the application to the Court can be made after a period of 56 days has elapsed from the date the decision was issued to the parties. In the case of a Labour Court decision, a period of 42 days must have elapsed from the date the Labour Court decision was issued to the parties before the application can be made in respect of that decision.
The application must be made to a judge of the District Court in which the Employer/Respondent concerned ordinarily resides. A list of all District Court Offices is available on the Court Services website under ‘Contact Us'.
Enforcement by the Workplace Relations Commission
In addition, an Employee or Complainant or (with the consent of the employee) his/her trade union, or an excepted body as defined under the Trade Union Act 1941 may apply to the Workplace Relations Commission for assistance with enforcement of a decision through the District Court.
All applications are considered. However, regard is had to the matters set out in Criteria for Enforcement which is available to download below.
The Workplace Relations Commission has discretion in deciding whether it can accept a request to make an application to the Court on behalf of a complainant.
Where application has already been made to the Court in this matter, the Workplace Relations Commission cannot accept a request to make another such application.
Recommendations issued which relate to the Industrial Relations Act 1969 (Section 13) are not enforceable. The system of Industrial Relations in Ireland is essentially voluntary in nature and a recommendation made by an Adjudication Officer or the Labour Court is not legally binding.
Enforcement of Decisions/Recommendations arising from Complaints presented before 1st October, 2015
The enforcement of complaints or disputes presented or referred to a Rights Commissioner, the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Equality Tribunal before 1st October, 2015 are governed by the law which existed before the commencement of the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Depending on the area of legislation under which the complaint was presented, either the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Labour Court may, on application by the employee, confirm the original decision. The forms to be used in relation to such applications to the Labour Court or Employment Appeals Tribunal are available in the Complaints, Appeals and Enforcement section of the Publications Page.
